{"id":243,"date":"2022-07-15T11:07:44","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T18:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/?p=243"},"modified":"2022-07-15T11:07:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T18:07:44","slug":"luxury-and-militarism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/2022\/07\/15\/luxury-and-militarism\/","title":{"rendered":"Luxury and Militarism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>(Guest post by Rose Gatlin)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vigla site is an interesting one, an ancient military fort situated on the grounds of a modern\u00a0 British military base. The excavation units of 2022 sit between a shooting range and a grenade\u00a0 range actively used by soldiers\u2014as a result, we work on the whim and schedule of the British\u00a0 military, a schedule that is often subject to change. If the British soldiers decide they are\u00a0 shooting that day, the students and faculty working at Vigla must be elsewhere. The British\u00a0 military is indeed a strong presence, with about seven military helicopters flying over Vigla a\u00a0 day and base police coming to check permits at unknown times. As we excavate the Vigla fort, we\u00a0 view the consequences of thousands of years of military and colonial presence on the island of\u00a0 Cyprus, reaching from the Hellenistic times to our own. Indeed, at the Vigla site you can find\u00a0 both modern bullet casings and ancient lead sling bullets in the same twenty-foot radius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/reed_glam\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_2626.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/reed_glam\/files\/2022\/07\/IMG_2626.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-320\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Anna Wilson holding a lead sling bullet from EU23<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, perhaps unexpectedly for me, there is more to find at Vigla than objects of classic\u00a0 military significance. The two excavation units open for the 2022 season appear to be a\u00a0 domestic context, with both units yielding a plethora of objects. In only the first two weeks, six\u00a0 coins, intact ceramic eating ware, a beautiful bead perhaps made of lapis, and a decorated\u00a0 bread-stamp (we think!) have all been unearthed. In excavation unit 23, there were also enough ceramic\u00a0 remains to suggest there being a high volume of carrying amphorae. These items, when\u00a0 considered together, do not paint a picture of just simple military living. To me, it seems\u00a0 whoever inhabited this area of the Hellenistic military fort lived a life where there was some\u00a0 degree of abundance. It is a reminder that one could become a rich man in the military and find\u00a0 a large degree of power. This message seems particularly powerful on Cyprus, an island partially\u00a0 occupied by several foreign militaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/reed_glam\/files\/2022\/07\/6175979479835299874.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/reed_glam\/files\/2022\/07\/6175979479835299874.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-321\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The bread-stamp\/amphorae seal stamp emerging from the fill above a floor in EU20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Guest post by Rose Gatlin) The Vigla site is an interesting one, an ancient military fort situated on the grounds of a modern\u00a0 British military base. The excavation units of 2022 sit between a shooting range and a grenade\u00a0 range actively used by soldiers\u2014as a result, we work on the whim and schedule of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/2022\/07\/15\/luxury-and-militarism\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Luxury and Militarism&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1117,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/vigla-archaeological-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}